Spring 2013, Judy and Mike visited Basque cities in both Spain and France and tasted several dishes with Euska Tomate-Saltsa.
Euska Tomate-Saltsa (Basque)
Makes 6 cups (1,9 liters)
Cooking time: 2 hours
Situated on both sides of the Pyrenées Mountains, near the Bay of Biscay, are Basque settlements in northern Spain and southwestern France. They lived in this region since about 200 B.C.E. Not saying that this tomato sauce recipe has been around for over 2,200 years, it still is made in one form or another and used in many dishes. It will keep for several days in the refigerator or freeze some.
1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil (oliba-olioa)
8 cloves of peeled and crushed garlic (baratxui)
2 cups (480 ml) peeled and diced organic yellow onion (horia eta tipula)
1 1/2 cups (365 ml) cored, seeded, and diced organic green bell pepper (berdea kanpai piperra)
3 cups (720 ml) diced very ripe organic tomatoes (tomatos)
1 4-oz. (120 ml) can whole green chiles (berde chiles), puréed
1/4 cup (60 ml) chopped parsley (perrexila)
5 cups (1,2 liter) organic beef or vegetable stock (behi-edo barazki-salda)
salt and pepper (gatze eta piperbeltza) to taste
bat 1. In a large saucepot, sauté the garlic, onion, green pepper in the oil until tender.
bi 2. Add the tomatoes, puréed chiles, and parsley. Simmer until very tender.
hiru 3. Add stock, cover, and simmer 1 hour.
lau 4. Uncover and simmer 1 hour more to reduce and thicken the sauce.
bost 5. Stir occasionally.
sei 6. Salt and pepper to taste.
-modifed from The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors
